Town has saved $3 million for beach renourishment | Opinion | The Press and Standard

The town of Edisto Beach has done an amazing thing. The town government has saved $3 million in local funds to go toward renourishment of the beach.
It’s very seldom that you hear of governments actually saving money. That’s awesome. Great job, Edisto.
That $3 million will be added to $4 million from Colleton County’s capital sales tax, created by the one-cent sales tax increase approved by voters in November 2014.
Problem is, that still leaves the town $5 million short of funds needed to complete the restoration of its beach, devastated by last fall’s floods.
But town officials are not accepting that loss. They have been working hard, visiting state legislature members, lobbying for Edisto’s cause. In fact, they’ve gone one step further and hired an independent lobbyist to bolster their efforts in getting a piece of the $40 million budgeted by Gov. Nikki Haley for replenishing the sand on our state’s beaches.
Renourishment of Edisto, and beaches all along the East Coast, is an ongoing battle. It’s just the way nature works — one beach washes away while the sand travels to another. However, to maintain the tourism dollars generated by our beautiful beaches, the disappearing sand has to be replaced. Otherwise, tourists will look elsewhere for their beach vacations, as the much-coveted front beach rental homes wash into the ocean — taking our tourism dollars with them.
Edisto officials have asked the Colleton County Legislative Delegation to support the funding proposal. We encourage them to do so and preserve one of Colleton’s true treasures.